These are the most recent media releases from the Dog and Lemon Guide.
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The traditional car yard will soon be extinct, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says the internet has made conventional car yards unnecessary, and there are even bigger changes to come.
"Until recently, cars were often supplied to car yards by vehicle wholesalers, However, in an online world, the small car yard is largely irrelevant. The wholesaler can simply sell direct to the final customer without involving the car yard at all.”
Claims that advertisements have led to a drop in teenage drink drivers are simply wishful thinking, according to a major American study.
The internationally respected American Insurance Institute for Highway Safety did a major study of the effectiveness of road safety advertising and concluded:
“Research indicates that education has no effect, or only a very limited effect, on habits like staying within speed limits, heeding stop signs, and using safety belts.”
The weekend’s triple fatality in Turangi might not have occurred if the road had been built correctly, says a leading road safety campaigner.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, says:
“It’s been known for decades that if the edge of a road drops down into gravel, then vehicles that drift over the edge of the road are likely to drop one wheel into gravel, slide and then lose control. That appears to be exactly what happened with the Turangi tragedy.”
The speed limit could be cautiously raised on certain roads, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, whose road safety research was awarded by the Australian Police Journal, says:
“There are no safe speeds and no safe roads. It’s a question of acceptable risk. The most dangerous roads are ordinary driveways, where children are frequently run over, despite the very low speeds involved.”
Science and higher fuel prices are the main reason for April’s lower road toll, says the car review website dogandlemon.com
Provisional figures show 12 road deaths in April - the lowest for any month since 1965, when monthly records began.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, whose road safety research was awarded by the Australian Police Journal, says:
“Higher fuel prices mean that the highest risk group – young, working-class males – make far less trips. The less trips you make, the less accidents you have.”
For those who are still having trouble getting their heads around the new Give Way rules, the car review website dogandlemon.com has come up with a handy rhyme:
When I’m at the end of a road or driveway
Where the intersection is a T
Unless the sign says otherwise
The last one through is me.
At other intersections, night & day
Unless the sign says differently
If I’m turning right I must give way
Then drive through very cautiously
Many motorists are still confused or unaware of major changes in the Give Way rules, says a leading road safety campaigner.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, says the current media blitz, aimed at educating the public about the changes, is “too little, too late.”
“This campaign is trying to change a lifetime of driving habits in just a couple of weeks. That’s not going to happen. This campaign should have started six months ago, with billboards and tv ads counting down to the day the changes begin.”
A police proposal to permanently target drivers who are 4 kilometres over the open road speed limit is misguided, says a leading road safety campaigner.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, who edits the car review website dogandlemon.com, says:
"However much the government tries to massage the figures, the reality is that most fatalities occur at speeds below the legal limit."
A 2009 AA study of 300 fatal crashes found:
A leading road safety campaigner has accused the government of hypocrisy after the Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee blamed the age of the vehicle fleet for slowing down improvements in road safety.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, who edits the car review website dogandlemon.com, says the government has consistently blocked many affordable and effective moves to lower the road toll.
Today’s serious crash on a notorious stretch of State Highway 1 near Paraparaumu could easily have been prevented, says a leading road safety campaigner.
Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the car review website dogandlemon.com, says the high number of serious injuries and deaths will continue on the unprotected sections of the highway until median barriers are installed.
